TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Sony BMG Sued Under Anti-Spyware Laws

Sony BMG Sued Under Anti-Spyware Laws

Monty Solomon (monty@roscom.com)
Mon, 21 Nov 2005 21:52:45 -0500

By LIZ AUSTIN Associated Press Writer

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Sony BMG Music Entertainment's troubles over
anti-piracy technology on music CDs deepened Monday as Texas' attorney
general and a California-based digital rights group said they were
suing the music company under new state anti-spyware laws.

The Texas lawsuit said the so-called XCP technology that Sony BMG had
quietly included on more than 50 CD titles leaves computers vulnerable
to hackers. Sony BMG had added the technology to restrict to three the
number of times a single disc could be copied, but agreed to recall
the discs last week after a storm of criticism.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation said Sony BMG needs to further
publicize the recall and compensate consumers for costs associated
with removing the software, an onerous process. It was filing a
lawsuit in California Superior Court in Los Angeles.

When XCP-enabled discs are loaded into a computer _ a necessary step
for transferring music to Apple Computer Inc.'s iPods and other
portable music players _ the CD installs a program that restricts
copying and makes it extremely inconvenient to transfer songs into the
format used by iPods. Critics say consumers aren't adequately told
what the program actually does.

Security researchers say XCP is spyware because it secretly transmits
details about what music the PC is playing. Manual attempts to remove
the software, which works only on Windows PCs, can disable the PC's
optical drive.

- http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=53359405

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